Richard Pombo: Safari Club Hero

Safari Club International (SCI) members bring a Republican ethic to hunting. They hunt like they do business. They don't allow silly things like federal law to get in the way of their objective. If shooting an endangered species will get them one step closer to winning a coveted SCI Grand Slam or Inner Circle title, they'll do it without hesitation. It's as second nature to them as insider trading.

And it's the end that matters, The means is simply process, something about which one doesn't give a second thought. Shooting Biff the elderly bison while he's tethered in his pen gets your card punched just as surely as if you'd faced a buffalo in the wild.

That's why there are so many SCI members in Our Leader's circle. Go to the Interior Department and you'll find David P. Smith, the brave man who bagged Biff. At the US Fish and Wildlife Service, you'll find Matthew J. Hogan, a former SCI lobbyist, Attend an SCI dinner, and Tom DeLay will talk dirty to you. These guys are the GC³R's backbone.

And they know who their friends are. No congressman hates endangered species more than Richard Pombo. Not only has he worked tirelessly to legalize the hunting of elephants, turtles, black-footed ferrets, and whales, he's not above shooting domesticated buffalo as a fundraising gimmick.

Now, SCI is paying Rep. Pombo back:

The Safari Club International sent out a desperate appeal to its members recently. What was it for? Elephants going extinct and they couldn't kill them anymore? Were they worried that global warming would melt all the ice and take away their chance to kill polar bears?

No, it was even more serious than that -- their favorite boy in DC needed money to beat back the "environmental extremists".

"This situation is dire, and your assistance is urgently needed. Funding is desperately needed to stave off the millions of dollars of scurrilous ads from our opponents. We MUST help our friend and supporter Richard Pombo."

So if you've always wanted to hang one of the last surviving members of a species on your wall or if you enjoy shooting an elderly buffalo or a tethered lion, answer SCI's call and send a few bucks to someone who shares your values.

Elsewhere:
Biff the Elderly Bison buys the farm.

Tom DeLay likes to talk dirty to Safari Club members.

I write a letter to former SCI lobbyist and acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Matthew J. Hogan, asking for permission to shoot an ivory billed woodpecker.

SCI's website.

Their rhino trophy form (pdf).